Paul Ryan credits President Obama on immigration

Rep. Paul Ryan found a bright spot in the first State of the Union of President Barack Obama’s second term, calling his remarks on immigration “productive.”

Ryan, the chair of the House Budget Committee, dismissed the address overall as a “traditional laundry list” from a “liberal perspective.” But he said the president’s language on immigration was “productive.”

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SOTU 2013: POLITICO LIVE reaction analysis

“I thought that was pretty productive,” Ryan told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I think when you have, when you’re in the legislative arena and we’re trying to get a comprehensive bipartisan agreement here, the words he uses matter and he used what I thought was a measured tone that gives me a sense that he is trying to get something done, so he use measured words that were productive with immigration and I think that’s an area we have a good chance of getting something done.”

The Wisconsin Republican recently endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) efforts to develop immigration reform legislation as part of the Senate’s Gang of Eight. That deal would tentatively allow a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country when the border is deemed secure.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was predictably effusive about the speech.

“It was a powerful speech,” the California Democrat said on MSNBC. “Music to my ears and I hope to the American people. The president talked about restoring confidence. Restoring confidence in our economy with job creation. Restoring confidence in our safety with gun violence prevention. Restoring confidence in who we are as a people with the immigration bill. ‘Send me the bill and I will sign it.’”